Complete remission in CD30-positive refractory extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma with brentuximab vedotin

TO THE EDITOR: [Abstract] The treatment outcome of relapsed or refractory extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (ENKL) is poor. Brentuximab vedotin, an anti-CD30 antibody-drug conjugate, has recently been approved for the treatment of relapsed Hodgkin’s lymphoma and anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL). We report on a case of a 63-year-old man who presented with multiple skin lesions, and was diagnosed with ENKL. Since the disease was refractory to most chemotherapy drugs, we performed an analysis of the skin biopsy to evaluate marker CD30. The patient’s lymphoma cells demonstrated CD30-positivity, and treatment with single-agent brentuximab vedotin was commenced as of December 2013. Following 4 cycles of single-agent brentuximab vedotin treatment, all of the skin lesions had cleared, and a [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated complete remission (CR) of the disease. This study suggests that single-agent brentuximab vedotin could be effective in the treatment of CD30-positive non-Hodgkin lymphomas other than ALCL.